Gods of Madness

Alternatively, no one wants to be an ass

Once exiting the cave, the party was reunited with Estalon and Bruna, who had left the hut but were unable to find the others as they had found it empty. The reunion was cut short due to the children all turning into donkeys, and painfully so. Estalon began to calm those who had reverted to animals, while Vlatko worked with Bruna to convince those able to listen onto the boats. The party decided to leave with as many children as possible and return with Bruna as a guide to rescue those who had run into the forest.

Upon Tancred’s suggestion, Estalon, Vlatko, and Pasha all wrote letters for Vela to deliver to ensure that the children will be safe as the party leaves to go find the rest. This did not go as planned as instead the team was questioned by the Captain of the guards. After some argument the group (grudgingly) decided to cooperate at the recommendation of Tancred and Vlatko.

They were forced to wait several hours, with Jargmir not being the slight bit happy about their predicament and Estalon anxious to learn more of the Ringleader and to mount a full investigation. They were constantly asked what they were hiding, but Vlatko said that he had hired the party as his protection as he investigated a matter that the guardsmen had previously refused to look into. It did not appear to be working, however.

The letter Pasha wrote fared no better, and was intercepted by a mysterious nobleman. who effortlessly freed them, much to the Guard Captain’s dismay. Estalon, with his experience with undead, realized that the mysterious nobleman was actually a vampire! Regardless, he politely requested the groups aid with a quest. He also made it quite clear that he knew quite a lot about the Enders themselves.

Jargmir and Vela both recognized him and vehemently refused to help him to the point that Jargmir was furiously yelling about an undead freak. Tancred and Pasha both agreed with Jargmir and Vela and decided to run away from the Vampire as he escorted the group outside against Vlatko’s wishes as he thought it best to parlay rather then run away.

Jargmir insisted on leaving for the island to recover the rest of his cell, and could not be swayed otherwise. Vela on the other hand, insisted on learning more and contacting the mysterious Benefactor. The group decided to meet at Astranov’s office in nine hours as they prepared, through Tancred spent the time looking for Bruna who had been released from the Watch’s custody. Bruna, however, was being taken care of by Vlatko and the child seemed thankful.

When the group rejoined, Vela showed them a strange magic circle, which she apparently used to teleport the group to the moon. Tancred was mystified as his people do not have stories of Niglobart, through the rest seemed to know who their mysterious benefactor was. Vela revealed that she was a Warden of the Enders, and able to communicate with Niglobart.

Communicating with Niglobart is not easy, and questions with complex answers greatly hurt Vela. She also only seems to receive images or simple answers due to the inability to communicate directly. Regardless, she was willing to try to gain information for the party. Thus far, they have learned:
*Bruna has the ability to restore the children turned into Donkies via his faith in Niglobart and Niglolaufen.
*However, Bruna’s father is searching for Bruna and does not have good intentions for the boy.
*Morag, the face encountered in the caverns beneath Toy Island, is a god that was imprisoned. If he ever gains a body, essentially the entire world is a bit screwed.
*The Ringleader, Morag and the brother of the leader of Kingsepp are all somehow shielded from Niglobart.

Does anyone else hate sock puppets?

The Sock-Puppet creature from earlier did not take well to the party stalling before eating the cakes to make themselves younger, and after a strike from Mr. Astranov (I’ll put down your first name when you update your character sheet) became infuriated enough to attack the party.

The elven Ranger (I do not know how to spell his/her name) dashed outside with their child escort so that no harm would befall him. The rest of the party battled the sock puppets, who surprisingly were able to cast magic of their own. A mysterious flash of light appeared during the battle, through none of the present party members were able to identify what it was, or what purpose it served.

After the battle, the three went to reunite with their lost companion, only to discover that they had been whisked away to an underground cavern. After closing the door to the hut they had fought the sock puppet in, they realized that more enemies had appeared in the hut. Unsure of where they were currently located, the three decided to fight their way through in the hopes of encountering their Ranger friend.

They quickly encountered skeletons, and one living prisoner in the caverns. After stating “Order and Brotherhood”, the party eventually responded with “At any cost”, identifying to each other that both parties were Enders. Thanks to the preparedness of Mr. Astranov and Pasha’s magical aid, the man they had freed, the Vucari named Jarmir became a valuable ally.

The group continued to battle their way into the caverns, encountering a group of hags (Two of which were distinctly masculine) one of which fled to inform their master of the Hero’s arrival. The others were quickly dispatched and then the group ran to meet the ringleader. Instead, they encountered an incorporeal head that physical attacks could not harm it. The minion that had left used a syringe to inject itself with an unknown substance, and underwent a horrific transformation. He became a slug-like creature whose very skin oozed acid. Fortunately, it would seem, these creatures are not mobile and explode within a few minutes of their creation.

The party advanced and came across a cave exit. They encountered the so-called Ringleader, a mysterious human-like figure in a plague doctor’s mask whose body was obviously not human as the wound Jarmir inflicted upon it quickly healed itself via tentacles within the body. Jarmer informed them that the Ringleader had left as his business was concluded.

With many questions still unanswered, most of the party felt it best to clear the island of any remaining minions.

Undead carnage!

The party traveled to Bronstien’s Mansion in another district of Kingsepp to continue the hunt.

A knock on the front door yielded no results, so the party went in through the window, where they were confronted by an undead creature. After killing it the party killed another two groups of undead creatures.

A blog for your campaign

Breaking and Entering?

Play began, and the party was contacted by our warden Mira Kalish. She revealed that we were to investigate a string of murders that was happening in the city that were similar to events that occurred 2 years ago, and 23 years ago. So far, no bodies have been recovered, but there are 5 people that have gone missing. In the past those that went missing were latter found having been flayed. In addition to the similarities in the killings there has also been a string of burglaries in Kingsepp where the only things taken are Diamonds and Onyx leaving all other valuables alone. Mira indicated that this points to Necromancy.
Our primary task was to go to Aftport and attempt to locate Krazky and Bronstein, kill them, and destroy any research that they may have been performing.

The party traveled to Aftport and investigated 5 small houses, the 5th belonging to Krazky. His cowardly attitude pointed that he was only a pawn in a larger scheme. The party gained access to the house and cornered him inside. Instead of fighting back, he attempted suicide by cutting his wrists, but we knocked him unconscious, tied him up, and searched the house. We found some scraps of paper with symbols and crude drawings, but no research. After a thorough investigation of the home, we awoke the prisoner, and interrogated him. He gave us little information, but we did manage to get the address of the manse belonging to Bronstein in another district.

Krazky claimed that he was being tortured by “the pain people” and that “they” come to him in his dreams. He was covered in scars and as the night went on, new scars formed where none had been. Shortly before the party left, Krazky was pulled from his hiding place dead, having no means to take his own life, with a symbol that matched one that we had found in the dwelling etched into his forehead.

The party concluded that investigating the manse was probably the best next step, and that’s where the session ended.